My Rogue Lord

CHAPTER 3

"Hmmm."
"Wake up."
"Hmm."

"Tis time rise."
"Hmmm."
"Is incoherent mumbling your only form of communication?"
"Hmmm."
Mayhap an insult would do well here, he thought to himself.
"Your hair resembles a bird's nest."
"That is rude to say. Even if a lady's hair may be unpleasant, proper manners calls for your silence, not opinion."
He stared at her in bewilderment, not believing his ears. Did the chit just...
"I say, wake up." The words were followed by a quick jostling.
"Mind your manners that was quite painful." Katherine mumbled as she moved away from the offensive touch. She wanted to sleep. She was so tired.
Jonathan stared at her in bewilderment. The chit was asleep and she still spoke of manners. Good God! He prayed for the man who married her. He wouldn't even be able to kiss her during the light!
"I say, wake up." Jonathan growled. The chit was also a deep sleeper, another one of her remarkable traits. He had been in her room for the better part of the hour now and she had just began to show signs of life.
"No." Katherine carped. She did not know who was trying to awaken her, most likely Leslie, but she was very tired. She had not slept well the previous eve, and being disturbed so early was not something she was willing to accept. How she wished Bertha, her woman's maid, was present. She was so sweet to her...A sweetness her mother despised...


"I will take your furs." Jonathan warned.
"That would be the height of impropriety. One does not remove a lady's covering." Katherine grumbled sleepily as she covered her face with her furs.
"To hell with propriety."
Katherine's eyes opened instantly, all thoughts of sleep fleeing her. Leslie did not speak in such a manner. Come to think of it, Leslie did not sound like.......Katherine threw the blankets off her face, the light of dawn enough for her to see the silhouette of a man in her room.
"Who are you?!" Katherine squeaked. She could barely breathe let alone talk, there was someone in her room!
A man.
Alone.

In the early hours of the morning.
While she was still in her shift.

"My lady, I dare say, you are not very bright in the morning. I believe we agreed to see each other at dawn." Jonathan said dryly as he sat beside her on the bed. Finally, the chit was awake.
"I made no such arrangements." Katherine squawked in disbelief. She would never, never make any arrangements with a man. It was beyond the height of impropriety!
"Aye, you did. I am to teach you to read, sweets."
"Oh, aye." Katherine nodded her head, before tilting it slightly to the side, the furs tightly clutched to her chest. She remembered. She now had a better understanding of whom she was speaking with, but she had yet to know exactly who?
"You did not introduce yourself."
"You may call me Jonathan."
"Jonathan?"
"Jonathan." He nodded.
"Jonathan?"
"Aye, Jonathan." He repeated slowly. Was the chit daft? Perhaps she was deaf?

"You do not have a title or anything of that ilk? What of your surname? I cannot call you by your given name." Katherine said affronted. As if the act of calling him by his given name was one of intimacy. While Katherine stared at him expectantly, Jonathan was counting his own blessings.
Thank the Lord, he had thought there was something wrong with her brain. It seemed the chit was worried about a title. Pity.
"Why can you not? I call you....." Jonathan frowned. He didn't call her by her given name, she would probably faint if he did. What to call the chit? He cleared his throat, smirking slightly. He would have to come up with one.
"I see you have noticed my predicament." Katherine muttered dryly.
"Tis not a problem. You may call me Jonathan, while I shall think of a name for you, wench."
"I am not a wench! I am Lady-"
"Aye, I know who you are." Jonathan drawled.
"Then it should only be fair I know who you are." Katherine tried to reason.
"Life is not fair, Kitten."
"Katherine."
Jonathan stared at her in confusion. Why had she said her name?
"My name is Katherine, not Kitten." Katherine explained at the blank look on his face.
Jonathan smirked.
"I like kitten. It becomes you."
"How so?"
"When you get angry, you think everyone shall cower, but you simply look doltish."
Katherine's lips thinned at his explanation.
"I would prefer Katherine."
"Wonderful, I prefer Kitten."
"Then I shall call you.....an...a lout!" Katherine said in triumph as she tilted her head up slightly. In her excitement, or frustration, the blanket had slipped a notch, revealing her pale shoulders and collarbone. Something that Jonathan took note of as he lowered his gaze.
"Very well." He shrugged.
"Very well? You cannot be happy with such a name, my lord. Tis-" Katherine stopped herself, peering at him unsurely.
"You are of gentry, are you not?"
"Aye, Kitten." Jonathan answered dryly. A twinge of annoyance covering his words.
"Now, if you're done with your questioning, I suggest you get ready. We need to begin your lessons."
Katherine's ears burned for reasons she could not explain.
"My lord, I cannot dress with you being in the same room as me."
"I shall close my eyes but you must hurry."
"My lord!" Katherine was shocked, even though she should not have been. The fair haired lout was something else entirely.
"Hurry along, Kitten. You have already wasted enough time sleeping away." Jonathan smirked as he closed his eyes and snatched her furs away, throwing them atop himself. Once his face was covered with the furs, he positioned himself to lay on his back. Right beside a mortified Katherine.
Katherine stared at the man's audacity. How? He?
"Tis rude to gawk, my lady. You have precisely five minutes before these blankets come off." Jonathan warned, feeling the heat of her gaze.
Katherine scrambled out of bed, somehow managing to look decent and regal. Quickly, she donned a simple day dress and went about performing her ablutions.
"You may remove the furs." Katherine informed as she sat on the chair across the room.
Jonathan removed the furs, looking in the direction of her voice.
"Why are you seated over there?" He frowned.
"Tis the proper way. We are alone in a room. We should keep our distance." Katherine shrugged as she fixed her skirts.
"Is that all you think about?" Jonathan questioned wryly as he walked towards her. Picking up the chair with her on it, he walked back towards the bed.
"My lord!"
"You did not care for propriety with the dress you had on yesterday." Jonathan reminded her as he took out his parchment and quill. It angered him when people claimed to be something they were not and then have the arrogance to look down upon someone who was being true to themselves.
Katherine's ears burned with humiliation and anger. She willed her tears back, years of discipline over herself had done her well.
"I assure you, my lord, the dress was not my choice, not that it concerns you." Katherine snarled, her feelings had been piquant. She knew not if it was because of him thinking so lowly of her, or because she was not the mistress of her own fate.
Jonathan blew out a breath. He had not been kind.
"I apologize, my lady."
Katherine remained silent as she watched him light two candles. The curtains in her chambers had been pulled back to reveal the early morning hour.
Jonathan cleared his throat.
"Before we begin, is there anything which you do know?" Jonathan asked hopefully, a bit too hopefully. The chit shook her head as her large eyes widened further.
"Tis alright. We shall begin with the alphabet first. I will show you how to write the first five as well as the sounds they make. Once you've learned those, we may proceed."
"We only have a fortnight, my lord." Katherine whispered, slightly pale. How was she to learn how to read and write in a fortnight? It took people years to learn how to read and write!
"A fortnight is time enough, if we make use of it. There is an old Arab proverb, 'time is like a sword, cut it before it cuts you.' If we work diligently, and you put your heart to the task, we shall reach our goal soon enough."
"My lord, I shall barely learn how to write the letters, how am I to read?" Katherine babbled, she was close to hysterics. Why? Her dream seemed so close, and yet, she felt as if she wouldn't be able to accomplish it, and that would surely crush her fragile spirits.
"We most certainly will not with your attitude and will to waste time. I could have taught you one letter by now." Jonathan remarked sternly.
"Now, no more of your nonsense. Here's parchment and a quill. I will write on my parchment while you attempt to copy it, based on your attempt we will proceed."
Katherine stared wide eyed before nodding. It should be simple enough. All she had to do was copy him.
Katherine lifted the quill. It felt foreign in her grasp, as if it did not belong.
Jonathan watched her. The chit didn't know how to hold a quill. Basics. He had to begin with the bare basics.

"Chit, you mustn't hold the quill in such a manner. You shall only tire your hand."
"There is a specific way to hold a quill?"
"Well, no. But tis easier if done in a certain manner. Once you begin to write you may hold the quill in whatever manner you are most comfortable with." Jonathan explained.
Katherine nodded before mimicking the way he was holding his quill.
"Is this correct, my lord?"